A homeless man in Marion County, south of Gainesville, died when a tree fell on him, Gov. Rick Scott said. The Midlands area was under either a flash flood watch or warning all day and night. “I have been briefed by the National Weather Service and my emergency team, who are tracking this storm and monitoring for the potential that it will reconstitute as a nor’easter with significant rainfall, life-threatening storm surge and flooding”.
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“We expect a 12-hour window in a number of areas with winds in excess of thirty miles per hour for that period of time”, Butterworth said. “Life-threatening coastal flooding and rip currents will continue and we must all remain vigilant”.
Hermine first came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane along the Big Bend of Florida before pushing through South Georgia on its way to our state. In Cedar Key, water rose almost 10 feet above low tide, the fifth-highest level ever recorded in the islands, said Brian McNoldy, a University of Miami hurricane researcher. “The city fared well”. Lowndes County spokeswoman Paige Dukes said crews were dealing with fallen trees and snapped power lines, but no injuries had been reported.
Scott said 253,000 people were without power. “There is a lot of work to do”, Scott told a news conference, warning people to look out for downed power lines and avoid driving in pools of standing water. Trees blocked roads and bridges were shut to assess the damage caused by high waters, the Florida Department of Transportation said.
Hermine weakened to a tropical storm Friday as it moved farther inland after making landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
As of 5 p.m., the center of the storm was still about 50 miles west of Charleston, S.C., moving northeast at 20 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The tropical storm was expected to reach the coastal Carolinas later Friday, then move offshore from North Carolina on Saturday.
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Long Island, New York City, parts of New Jersey, coastal CT and southern Westchester County.
It could strengthen again over water and possibly bring up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain to the southeastern and mid-Atlantic states over the next 48 hours, with heavy rainfall possibly hitting coastal DE and New Jersey starting on Saturday night, the center said.
11 – Years it had been since a hurricane made landfall in Florida. The Storm, which is now located over Florida, is moving north-northeast and is forecast to be located off the Eastern Shore of Maryland by Saturday. But the National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicted it would regain hurricane strength after emerging in the Atlantic Ocean.
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said 100 Florida National Guard personnel were activated, with 6,000 more on alert in the state and 34,000 members ready to be deployed from elsewhere in the United States.
Local television stations broadcast footage of buffeting winds, lashing rain and flooded streets.
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The neighboring state of Georgia placed 56 counties on a state of emergency, and thousands more homes and businesses had their power cut as Hermine moved up the coast.
